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So what do you think would happen

5K views 29 replies 19 participants last post by  jackdale 
#1 ·
So I know this guy. No not me I swear. Who wears his automatic inflatable life jacket under his foul weather jacket.
So what do you think would happen? It's a pretty good jacket, strong zipper. I'm thinking it will inflate and cause all kinds of bad results. It has to have happened.
Ever seen it it?
 
#2 ·
Just a guess...but if his jacket remains intact and is zipped up he might find it very difficult to breath due to the pressure on his torso from the inflated PFD. That was something we were very careful not to do when making a parachute jump into water...get out of the harness before inflating the PFD.

Doesn't seem like a wise thing to do.
 
#3 ·
Not positive, but I believe the directions would say something to the effect, PFD should be worn on the outside! Then again, its been awhile since I looked at the directions of the inflatable PFD's I do have, but they are worn on the out side!

Marty
 
#4 ·
The pfd attachment points on Helly Hansen and other jackets are on the outside.

Check out question 13 on Mustang's Site

Jack
 
#7 ·
:eek: And the question is? Is wearing an inflatable Life Jacket under your foul weather gear would be survivable if he went over....

I imagine he could exhale... Inhale?? that is a different question.:rolleyes:
 
#8 ·
Well, I see two problems with this...

First, it would delay the inflation of the automatic release and make using the manual release very difficult. This means that he could possibly drown before the foulweather gear let enough water in to trigger the PFD's inflation cycle. Foul weather gear is designed to keep water out, is it not??

Second, it would pose a serious asphixiation risk to the wearer if the PFD does inflate.
 
#10 ·
Read the directions!

Its specified that you wear them on the outside right on the directions. It makes perfect sense...if you like circulation, breathing, moving, access, etc. Of course they look less conspicuous and stylish if worn under windbreakers or sweats...
 
#11 ·
So... as a summary, your friend is willing to risk drowning and asphyxiation in order to be able to wear his PFD under his foulies... Really bright... :)

Unless his jacket was made by OMAR the TENTMAKER, and is exceptionally oversized, wearing a PFD under it is a good recipe for disaster... Have you ever tried to remove a foulweather jacket, while in the water...never mind while it had a fully inflated PFD inside it choking you?? Removing the jacket is very likely not a possibility for him once the PFD inflates.
 
#21 ·
If the foulies are over sized -which they should be. Having a PFD under when inflated will actually gardner greater success due to buoyancy. You are making a statement that you yourself have never experienced. There is a reason why in the navy - if you fall over - you pull off your dungarees. Its to trap the air to make it a floatation device. The worst that comes from a PFD inflated over a restricted jacket is pro-longed buoyancy.
 
#13 ·
Somewhere in the fog banks of my memory is a story about the same situation. Possibly it was Lat38, but here it is.

Man goes up on the bow in snotty weather. Second person sees man on the bow struggling with himself, gasping, and clawing. Second man cannot figure out the problem, and then suddenly the man on the bow pulls a knife out, and starts stabbing himself in the chest to the complete horror of the man in the cockpit.

It had to be hilarious once it was all over, but terrifying at the moment......i2f
 
#15 ·
I recall hearing a story like this as well. I believe it was from the Sydney-Hobart race a couple of years ago. My recollection was that the boat got pooped or rolled, and then some guy who was below came up on deck and thought one of his crew mates was committing seppuku. I can't remember if the life jacket was under his harness or under his foulies.
 
#17 ·
Fatal Storm"...Paddy Broughton was wearing a hydrostatic..."

Hah,
i just finished reading "Fatal Storm" just a few hours ago! It's about the Sydney-Hobart race in 1998.
Page 232, "Our mastman, Paddy Broughton, was wearing a hydrostatic life jacket..Paddy thought the best thing to keep water away from the automatic inflation device was to put it under his...wet weather jacket and harness...." The bow went under with Paddy on the foredeck.
The short of it is people watched as Paddy pounded his chest in "apparent pain", "he pulled a knife and started stabbing himself in the chest, or at least it appeared that way to us."
"His safety harness wouldn't let the jacket expand, so his chest was being crushed".
Great book to read along with "Fastnet, Force 10".
 
#18 ·
Hah,
i just finished reading "Fatal Storm" just a few hours ago! It's about the Sydney-Hobart race in 1998.
Page 232, "Our mastman, Paddy Broughton, was wearing a hydrostatic life jacket..Paddy thought the best thing to keep water away from the automatic inflation device was to put it under his...wet weather jacket and harness...." The bow went under with Paddy on the foredeck.
The short of it is people watched as Paddy pounded his chest in "apparent pain", "he pulled a knife and started stabbing himself in the chest, or at least it appeared that way to us."
"His safety harness wouldn't let the jacket expand, so his chest was being crushed".
Great book to read along with "Fastnet, Force 10".
I'm forwarding this to the problem child.
 
#19 ·
Thank you gentlemen. I figured that unique ways to damage ones self are probably rare so someone would have a historical example.
 
#22 ·
Unless you are tethered ... How you you release a tether if you are in a capsized cockpit or a sinking vessel?

Jack
 
#25 ·
I was being sarcastic in my earlier response about foulies being air tight. I been in the water with foulies on. They do not trap air. They add no buoyancy what so ever! Any air trapped in the foulies will find its way out once you hit the water, as in big bubbles coming up from the top of your bids and from your collar.

This all brings up what to look for in foulies. When I bought the ones I use now, I bought very good offshore foulies. Not what you find at west marine. The have a built in harness and have zip in float vest. Much heaver material than you find in the off the rack foulies. The float vest is much like an insulated jacket liner (think Army field jacket liner) and it adds both warmth and flotation.
 
#27 · (Edited)
ProRainer, I bought them from Sailnet at the Atlantic City sailboat show a few years ago when Sailnet was still doing boat shows. I like the idea of having additional flotation in my foulies. I do wear a inflatable vest which I believe had 38 pounds of buoyancy. I have always had the feeling that if I go over the side with long underwear, heavy pants and shirt, sea boats and foulies on, the extra flotation is not a bad thing. I am 215 pounds to start with and add the foulies and everything underneath soaked with water, I don't want to rely just on the 38 pounds of buoyancy.
 
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